Isdex Inventor Strikes Again -On Own

The brains behind the Isdex, one of the earliest and most popular Internet indexes, is now out on his own. Steve Harmon, the Isdex's creator, left Mecklermedia, now Internet.com Corp., last July and has since started his own online investment management firm, to which he has decided to give the name e-har-mon.com Inc.

Harmon rose to what some would call "guru" status as the author of the Internet Stock Steve Harmon Report for the Internet.com site and pioneered the world of Web stock analysis. He was one of the first to value Internet companies based on numbers of users rather than on earnings.

His new company, e-harmon.com, invests in public and private Internet companies and currently offers a venture capital fund for institutional investors. The site features a directory of Internet venture capital firms, and a daily Net stock analysis by Harmon.

And, of course, a brand new Internet index. The Net30 Index consists of 30 Internet stocks selected quarterly based on their sales. According to the site, this is a more objective method of selecting components because it allows the marketplace to decide which are the top companies.

The Net30 index is one way in which Harmon hopes to appeal not just to institutional investors, but to individual investors as well. E-harmon.com filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission in January to create an index fund based on the Net30. At the same time the company also filed to create an actively managed Internet fund.